Google asks US permission to publish information request data

Google Inc asked the US Department of Justice on Tuesday that it be allowed to publish the total number of national security information requests made by the government, arguing that the figures would prove the company does not give the government "unfettered access" to its users' data.

The Internet company has come under scrutiny following disclosures in The Guardian and Washington Post newspapers of its role in a National Security Agency data collection program named Prism.

In a blog post, the company published a letter it sent to Attorney General Eric Holder and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller. (http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2013/06/asking-us-government-to-allow-google-to.html)